Expenses

[syntheticgerbil]

7 7 7

[JimmyTheFish]

Well, the problem with that is that no one would ever spearhead it. When you release a game at a lower price, everyone sees it as a bargain title. If you want to look competitive, you have to price competitive.

[SoccerDude28]

Thank Microsoft's HD era, games are going to be more expensive in general in the next generation. They will be more expensive to make, and the cost will be brought down to us, the sheep. EA said that they couldn't produce enough of its $54.99 Madden special edition, and that it was an experiment to see if people are willing to pay more than 49.99 for a game they really like. If the sales of Half-life 2 and DOOM 3 are any indication, people are willing to pay 54.99 (me included) on a brand new spanking hot title.

[MrHoatzin]

People are really stupid. I thought we were in a recession.

[SoccerDude28]

People are really stupid. I thought we were in a recession.

Not when it comes to buying games

[loonyboi]

Prices are going up, not down. Accept it and move on with your lives.

It's inevitable, especially as we move on to next-gen game development. Games cost more to make. Much, much, much more. So publishers crank up the price.

Although there is one interesting thing to note...as anyone else noticed that (at least in the US), PC prices have gone down, not up? For cross platform games, it seems like immediately on release, the Xbox/PS2/GameCube versions will be $40 - $50, where the PC version is a scant $30 - $40. It happened with Brothers in Arms, it happened with Psychonauts.

Of course with each of those games I'd rather have the Xbox version anyway.

[netmonkey]

Well, the problem with that is that no one would ever spearhead it. When you release a game at a lower price, everyone sees it as a bargain title. If you want to look competitive, you have to price competitive.

That is why there need to be a universal price lowering. All games cost less. People would just buy more and more if they do, like dvd collectors. But at $49.99 and above, who the hell is going to collect games?!

I think if either Microsoft or Sony (who are both total greedy bastards in their own ways) would have the guts to competitive lower the game prices, then the other would have to follow. Or nintendo.

Or, if you live in South America, you can mod your $500 xbox and buy burned games on the street for $1.

But how much money do games developers make from those inflated prices?

[MrHoatzin]

The game industry will crash and burn and I will rejoice around the sacrificial pyre. Then we can raise the phoenix on a better foundation.

[Roderick]

I think it'll only take one more generation (read: the next one) before the industry can't afford all those hotter than hot games anymore. It'll either come to a dead end, crumble or head down a different path. Each one is more preferable to going on in the same line as now (where there's only better graphics and technology to consider).

As for the pricing, there are only two games I bought for full price this year: Resident Evil 4 and World of Warcraft. For the former I had 20 percent discount because I worked at a mediastore at the time, the latter was a very luxurious special edition for which I gladly payed that relatively cheap price. The rest of my gamepurchases are either discount or second-hand. You really shouldn't underestimate how much money you can save by buying second-hand stuff. It's usually still perfect and it saves you a ton. Both of these options have only one thing going against them: you have to wait for a while. But because I have little playing time anyway, I can wait. The only games I'd buy now anyway are games of which I know they'll be good and of which I want to support the designer. Next up is Psychonauts, which I can't even run but will buy anyway for PC.

[loonyboi]

I buy a lot of games (read: a LOT), and I almost never buy games with cash, I just sell back old games to buy more. I always buy used if I can (assuming it's not a $4 difference, like GameStop does with new releases), and I try and sell back games as quickly as possible, as they drop from being worth $18 to $5 rediculously fast.

That's reality. Games ain't cheap to make, they sure as heck aren't cheap to market, and they cost a fortune for consumers. Which is why I really get pissed if I do go and buy the game outright and it turns out to suck (like Fable did).